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Why Harry Wilson has not solved a 'major problem' at Leeds United as transfer questioned
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- Why Harry Wilson has not solved a 'major problem' at Leeds United as transfer questioned
Harry Wilson has yet to kick into gear at Leeds United.
There was a lot of expectation over Wilson's arrival at Elland Road during the summer transfer window.
Leeds pulled off what was considered quite a coup by bringing in the Wales international on a free transfer after his Fulham contract expired.
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But, thus far, Wilson has failed to ignite in a Leeds shirt, and there are some concerns over his performances.
The 29-year-old was handed just a second Premier League start in the 0-0 bore draw at Sunderland last time out.
And BBC Radio Leeds commentator and reporter Jonathan Buchan has been left a little puzzled about Leeds' thinking when it came to his signing.
What issue is Harry Wilson failing to solve for Leeds United?
It is still relatively early days in Wilson's Leeds career, so there is certaintly no need to hit the panic button.
But it is more than fair to say that so far his signing has just simply not lived up to the expectations supporters will have had.
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Part of the issue is that there does not seem to be a clear fit for Wilson in Daniel Farke's 3-4-2-1 formation, especially given he prefers to operate further out wide.
Buchan was speaking on the Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast, and noted how Wilson was brought in to solve a problem of creating chances
However, he said Wilson has not been succeeding on that front, and questioned the thought procees behind his signing if he is not going be utilising to solve that particular problem.
Buchan said: "I'm not saying he shouldn't have been signed this summer because I think everyone knows that he is a quality player, but what problem did he solve by joining Leeds?
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"Because one of the problems was chance creation, and this is still a major problem so far this season.
"Last season, 10 goals, seven assists for Wilson at Fulham. Five goals and four assists for Brenden Aaronson, so if he was a like-for-like replacement for Aaronson you could go 'ok, yeah, he's an improvement in terms of his statistics for creating, creating changes, and scoring goals'.
"But he doesn't seem to have come in as a replacement for Aaronson and he isn't really unpikcing the lock, which is the problem they were trying to maybe solve by signing him.
"He is more suited to playing out wide, but we don't play that way so it makes me go 'yes they've signed him, yes he's a good player yes he probably will come good if he gets more game time', but I don't know what problem they solved in the summer by signing him."
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Leeds player ratings vs Sunderland: Harry Wilson mediocre, 8/10 teammate shines in drab draw How do Leeds solve a problem like Harry Wilson?
The fact of the matter is that Wilson just isn't comfortable playing in this system.
Indeed, at times against Sunderland, he just often looked like he was getting in the way of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
One alternative could be for Daniel Farke to revert to a 4-2-3-1 system, especially given the arrivals of Nico Elvedi and Tarik Muharemovic have really improved Leeds at centre-back.
That would then allow Wilson to play wide right, a position where he thrived for Fulham last season.
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Whether Farke will rip up everything he's worked on just to get Wilson in the team is another question, mind.
But he really could do with a find a solution, because you do not want to be wasting a talent like Wilson.
